


The Way Love Looks

by Like_echoes_in_the_night



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Halloween, Kid Fic, M/M, Work Fic, a wee little bit of angst if you squint, and has no knowledge of LA traffic patterns and briefest knowledge of emt procedures, eddie and buck can't stop looking at each other like pining fools, eddie is just waiting for buck to catch up here, halloween fluff, human sunshine christopher diaz, no beta we die like men, so please forgive any errors, the author has no regrets re her copious use of punctuation, the author is deeply uncertain of what she's doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27309034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Like_echoes_in_the_night/pseuds/Like_echoes_in_the_night
Summary: Leading up to Halloween, Buck feels like something between him and Eddie has shifted. He keeps catching Eddie looking at him, for one thing, and sometimes Buck gets a little caught up in all that possibility. It's a little overwhelming, but there are lots of distractions at hand - like the bad car accident they get called out to the day before Halloween, and the secret costume that he and Christopher have been planning for Eddie...
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 240
Collections: Buddie Trick or Treat





	The Way Love Looks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ImDivingDeep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImDivingDeep/gifts).



> For Emma, for the Buddie Discord Server Trick-or-Treat gift exchange. Emma prompted first kiss/getting together; marriage proposal halloween style; and Buck listing random facts. I hope I've done justice by your great prompts and that you enjoy! I haven't written fic in about ten years so I hope it doesn't read like that. Thanks for organizing the exchange and I really hope you like it!

Before this job, Buck LOVED Halloween. And okay, sure. If he’s being fair, he still does, really. But after a lead up week of insane call-outs, he’s feeling a little done. First, there had been the corn maze with the claustrophobic student who’d had a severe panic attack, which her girlfriend mistook for a heart attack. They'd burst out through the actual corn while calling 911 – Buck was still picking hay out of his boot’s laces from all the bales scattered around where he’d been on crowd control. Then there was the haunted house where one of the so-called ax murderers had decided their prop didn’t quite look real enough, and had brought in a real hatchet. And of course it ended up embedded in his thigh after a scare gone wrong, because that’s what happens when morons play with sharp objects. Then there was the one with the bonfire some fool had decided to throw gasoline on, and Buck really, really is never going to eat barbeque again. Really.

So yeah, he’s feeling a little over it. Holidays either mean it’s going to be insane or slow as fuck around the station, and with the full moon coming up on Halloween, he’s dreading the marathon 36 hour shift both he and Eddie are going to be pulling over parts of Thursday, Friday, and into Saturday morning.

But at least the week is going to end great: he was able to cajole Bobby into letting him work out the same time off deal as Eddie, so that Buck can tag along with him and Christopher for trick-or-treating. He and Chris have already made coordinating costumes for the three of them (“it’s a _secret_ , dad,” Christopher had said in his best no-nonsense tone, all too sweet in his soft voice, and Buck had echoed him, sticking his tongue out at Eddie and making him roll his eyes at both of them before acquiescing). He and Chris had gotten right to work, too, modifying his store-bought costume to include his crutches. And Buck can’t wait to see the grumpy expression on his face when they present Eddie with his costume.

So the shift from hell? Gonna be worth it.

4 hours into their epic shift, Buck’s no longer feeling so confident in that sentiment. They get called out to a bad accident on the 101, which automatically makes everyone groan to start with. It’s hell getting there, the freeway practically a parking lot, and by the time they arrive, Buck’s buzzing with unused energy and adrenaline. There’s a little Toyota facing the wrong direction near the concrete median, pretty badly smashed up, and a couple of other vehicles scattered around, but they’re all empty by the time they get there, all the occupants mobile enough to get out.

The Toyota’s another story.

Bobby gives clear, firm commands as he surveys the scene.

“Buck, Eddie, get the jaws and tools. Chim and Hen, you’re on medical for the occupants. Kincade, Thomas, triage the minors, and Matthew, observing triage. Go.” It’s a pretty typical roster, thankfully, even with a new probie still just learning. Eddie grabs the jaws and Buck snags the tool bag, step in step, and they approach the vehicle. It’s crumpled badly in the front and driver’s side, impacting retrieval of the occupants, two adults in the driver and passenger’s seats. Both appear unconscious.

Buck gets the crowbar into the crack of the driver’s side door, but nothing budges. Eddie, watching, comes up close to him so that they both can try applying pressure, and they fit themselves in close together for a few minutes as they both strain, pushing against the handle of the bar. It starts to shred the exterior of the door, but makes no progress actually getting it open.

“Jaws,” Eddie says decisively, and Buck nods, tossing the crowbar aside as Eddie grabs the jaws of life and uses the small dent they made with the crowbar to wedge the tool into the door. With a huge groan from the metal, the door slowly eases open, Buck grabbing at the frame as soon as his hands can clear it. He can feel Chim hovering behind him, Eddie at his side, Hen across the car on the passenger’s side.

The door pops open, and blood pours out.

“Ah, what the fuck,” Buck snaps, jumping back as Chim jumps forward, before also recoiling momentarily. Blood flows onto the pavement, flowing steadily out of the car. It’s completely saturated the driver’s plaid shirt, and is pooled at her feet. It’s more than anyone can lose and live. More blood than Buck’s ever seen in an MVA before, even with a lot more severe injuries.

“Driver’s cyanotic, pulse seems okay considering,” Chim decides, then reaches over to check the passenger, a man whose injuries must be much less extensive, if judging from the lack of blood covering him is any indication.

As Chim touches his neck for a pulse, he gasps awake.

This is the part Buck hates.

“What – what – _Maisie_?” He cries out, hands starting to flail, pushing the expanded, limp airbag off of him.

“Sir, we need you to stay still –“

“Maisie, oh god, no, no, oh god no –“

“Sir, please, you have to stay where you are. We have to check your friend out first, and we need you to stay calm while we do. Can you do that for me?” Hen’s got her head inside the passenger’s window now, carefully smashing out the remainders of the glass. “What’s your name, sir?”

“Ben. We were – god, we were on our way to a costume party. Maisie – I wanted to do some finishing touches on my costume, so Maisie drove and there was a truck – is she going to be okay? Oh god.”

Buck, a few feet behind where Chim is crouched, examining the driver, winces. He glances at Eddie, who looks back at him and holds his gaze for a long moment. This is one of the worst parts of their job. With the amount of blood she’s lost, there’s no way she can survive, and all of them know it.

“Buck,” Bobby comes up behind him, a hand on his shoulder. “Get the passenger door open. It took a long time to get here. Let’s not lose our golden hour.”

“Yeah,” Buck grunts, and grabs the jaws from Eddie before rounding the car. The passenger door pops easy, not much damage on this side, and he and Hen get Ben out and on a stretcher right after, the C-collar restricting his view of where Chim and Eddie are working on Maisie.

“She has to be okay,” Ben tells Buck, looking up at him desperately. “Please – _please_. I can’t lose her.”

“We’ll –“ he glances at Hen. “We’ll do everything we can.”

They get Maisie out soon after. Hen works on Ben nearby, saving the ambulance for Maisie. Bobby had requested additional RA units immediately upon pulling up, but they were likely delayed by the same troubles the 118 had run into.

“Pulse is still strong, BP 120 over 89,” Chim calls out as they start extracting Maisie, with him, Buck, and Eddie all crammed into a small space to steady her as they cut through the seatbelt, get the collar on her, and push the seat back so Chim can lift her out. Debris from the car tumbles out after her. 

“120 over 89? You’re sure about that?” Eddie asks, doubtfully.

“I took it twice, man,” Chim mutters as they strap her onto the stretcher. “I don’t even know how she’s breathing, let alone maintaining a normal BP. That much blood? I don’t get it.”

“Yeah…” Eddie trails off, manhandling the stretcher up into a position that they can transport to the ambulance. Chim’s stethoscope falls off, and he curses.

“Shit. Buckaroo, grab my – Buck?”

Buck’s laughing. Buck loves his job after all.

He saunters over to where Chim, Eddie, and a little ways away, Bobby, are all glaring at him with various expressions of annoyance and disbelief. He holds up the messy gallon bottle that fell out of the car after Maisie was extracted, grinning.

“Fake blood!” He announces. “They were on their way to a Halloween party! It’s fake blood!”

***

Maisie wakes up not too long after that. The blueish cast to her face is zombie makeup. She was knocked unconscious by the force of the airbag, and will need to get cleared at a hospital, but otherwise seems alert and okay. They wheel the two stretchers together while they wait for the second ambulance, and only then does Buck realize that Ben’s in a vampire costume – thus, the fake blood. Ben and Maisie hold hands as they wait. They both still have C-collars on and Ben is crying a little. Buck kind of feels like they should give them privacy, but they still need to be monitored. Chim and Hen hover while Buck knocks his fist against Eddie’s shoulder.

“Some shit, huh?” Buck asks cheerfully. “I’m gonna see if they need help with the walking wounded,” gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder and starting to bound away. Just because their most severe injury doesn’t seem to be so severe anymore doesn’t mean that the highway isn’t still absolute chaos. There’s a crowd forming from nearby drivers, police taking statements and other officers trying to clear at least one lane for traffic, people with minor injuries scattered around.

He stops, though, turning around when he hears what’s happening behind him.

“Maisie,” Ben says tearfully. “You mean everything to me. I don’t ever want to imagine my life without you again. You’ve everything I want to come home to –“ Buck, turning, accidentally locks eyes with Eddie, who, God, _God_ , is already looking right at him. “Will you marry me?” Ben finishes, and Buck doesn’t hear the answer.

He’s looking at Eddie. Eddie’s looking right back at him, and the words ‘you’re everything I want to come home to’ are oddly reverbing through Buck’s skull, growing until they seem to throb to the beat of his own heartbeat. The chaos of the scene around them has fallen away from him somehow, and all he can do is look at Eddie. Eddie has a plaintive, open look on his face, and Buck can’t look away from him. 

“Buck!” Bobby calls, and he snaps out of it. He spins, stumbling for a second over his own feet.

“Yeah! Yeah, Cap!”

“Buck, come over here and help direct the tow truck in. LAPD’s got to clear a lane…”

Buck throws himself back into work. He doesn’t think about the overheard proposal, or the way Eddie had looked at him, or even the sudden shock of emotion he had experienced, just looking at Eddie’s familiar, loved face. He doesn’t.

He doesn’t.

***

“Fake blood!” Buck says, starting to laugh again. “This job is so weird, man, I love it.”

“You’re only laughing because it didn’t get all over your shoes,” Chim grumbles. Sitting on the locker room bench, he bends down to flick a bit of the dried substance off of his shoelace, a sour look on his face.

“Hey, can’t help it that I’ve got better reflexes, man. I’m like a cat.” Buck brags from where he’s stashing his first uniform into his duffel. All three of them had decided they needed a mid-shift change into spare uniforms after getting covered in the sticky fake blood substance – besides being uncomfortable, the appearance of blood soaked firefighters wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence when they rolled up on the next scene. 

Eddie snorts while tying his shoes.

“Is that what the mystery Halloween costume is? You’re a cat?”

Buck turns, hand to chest, to give Eddie a wounded look as Chim guffaws.

“Just for that, maybe Chris and I’ll just make you stay at home, old man. Give out the candy while the _fun_ people go trick-or-treating.” He bumps his bag down into his locker and closes it deliberately for emphasis.

“You guys are going trick or treating together?” Chim asks, grinning. “That’s fucking adorable, guys. Don’t forget to send your sister and me an invite to the wedding, now. You wouldn’t want to hurt our feelings.” He grins, walking backwards as Buck splutters and Eddie rolls his eyes.

“Listen, just because Buck’s a man-child who wants to get dressed up –"

“You know what, Eddie, I’d be nice to the person who was responsible for the costume I had to wear out into the neighborhood –"

“See? You’d never make me stay home, you’re too invested in making me wear whatever ridiculous –"

“Just because I’ve gotten into the _spirit of the holiday_ –"

“Boys,” Chim says exasperatedly, sticking his head back into the locker room. Buck takes a hurried step back from Eddie, blushing a little – when had they gotten so close? “Can’t we all just get along? Bobby says lunch in five.”

He leaves again, and Buck feels suddenly, horribly awkward. They exchange a skittish glance at each other, neither of them talking as they both head out of the room. Their shoulders bump together as they walk up the stairs to the loft, though, and Buck relaxes some.

“Did you know that the first zombie movie is widely regarded to be Night of the Living Dead, but that it came out in 1968, and Victor Halperin’s movie White Zombie was released in 1932?”

Eddie casts him a fond, exasperated look as they reach the top of the stairs.

***

Finally, finally, 2pm on Saturday comes. It’s been a busy shift, back to back call outs after the collision on the 101, and with only one real good stretch for a nap – which was over 9 hours ago, so both of them drag a little as they leave the station. The deal Eddie had negotiated – that Buck had jumped on as well – left them working with most of B squad for the last twelve hours of their shift, and even though Buck likes them all well enough, they’re not _his_ team. At least he had had Eddie by his side.

“Wish we had time for a nap,” Eddie sighs, hefting himself up into his truck.

Buck yawns, already collapsed into the passenger seat. They’d driven together, figuring it was easier. “Yeah.”

“Let’s get the kiddo,” Eddie yawns too, catching it from Buck. He starts his truck, then pauses. His hand drifts over to rest gently on Buck’s knee. Buck looks at him, so close, with wide eyes.

“Buck…” Eddie says quietly, looking over at him, and for Buck, it suddenly feels like it had earlier, when he had watched Eddie’s face during that proposal at the accident. He feels like he’s holding his breath, like his chest has gone suddenly tight. Eddie’s hand is warm on his leg, his face so open and close and Buck feels, he feels like -

From the other side of the parking lot, the garage door opens, and the engine comes rolling out, siren screaming. Eddie jumps a little, and snatches his hand back, putting the truck in reverse.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Eddie says, a little grumpily.

_Yeah_ , Buck thinks, _let’s_.

Christopher is ecstatic when they get him home, bouncing around on his crutches like he’s already eaten all of his Halloween candy. Buck watches as Chris teases Eddie about his secret costume as Eddie stands in the kitchen casting around for some actual nutritious food. Chris continues until Ed actually starts rolling his eyes at his own kid.

“Alright, alright,” Buck says, laughing. “Chris, should we show him?”

Chris all but doubles over, but nods, and zooms away to his bedroom.

“I’m going to regret this, right?” Eddie asks Buck gloomily.

“Oh yeah.” Buck grins, then bounds off to help Chris. They spend a few minutes giggling together until heading back to the kitchen, where Eddie is half-heartedly grabbing a box of pasta and some tomato sauce. 

“Now, Edmundo,” Buck says, a shit-eating grin on his face, hands behind his back. Chris stands beside him with the same exact expression on his face. _Heaven help me, these two_ , Eddie thinks, rolling his eyes at hearing his full name. “There’s a theme to our costumes, right Christopher?”

“Right!”

“And we’re a team,” Buck continues, grinning. “So as a member of the team, we need to you to suit up.”  
  
Eddie’s a little concerned that Chris might actually hurt himself from how hard he’s giggling.

“God help me,” he mutters, smiling despite himself.

“Chris, do you want to go first?” Buck prompts, and Chris grins and nods, pulling a helmet out from behind his back.

“I’m Iron Man!” He announces, popping the helmet half on his head. “I’m Tony Stark, and the best Avenger, and Buck is Captain America! Right, Buck?”

“Right, buddy.” Buck pulls the signature Captain America cowl out from behind his back, leaving one hand still behind him. Eddie has a moment, just for a second, as he pictures Buck in the Captain America uniform, all broad shoulders and that ass and –

“Do you want to know what your costume is?” Buck smiles widely, all too delighted with the proceedings.

“Do I have to?” Eddie asks.

“ _Dad_. _”_

“Yeah, yeah, okay, lay it on me. Who am I?”

Buck pulls a pair of garish purple sweat pants out from behind his back. Christopher holds up a tube of green body paint. Both of them grin at Eddie expectantly.

“Oh fuck no,” Eddie says.

Chris’ eyes grow exponentially wide.

“Daddy,” he says, delighted. “You said a _bad_ word.”

***

In hindsight, Buck thinks, this may not have been the best idea in the world.

Chris is happily eating his dinner at the table – Buck had come through with some mozzarella balls and black olives, stuck together to look like monster eyeballs, kind of gruesome looking in the tomato sauce covered spaghetti – and he’d been relishing eating each “eyeball.” Eddie was the first one to get dressed, since his costume required the most work, and, well. That’s how Buck ends up applying green body paint to Eddie’s bare torso.

They’re in the living room, towels down on the couch so Eddie doesn’t stain anything, and Buck is silently cursing himself.

Man, he did _not_ think this one through.

They’ve got the tv playing in the background, some Halloween movie Chris loves, but neither of them are paying any attention. Buck’s gone through like ten cotton balls already, discarded onto a piece of newspaper down on the ground in front of them. Most of Eddie’s arms and back have been successfully painted green, with just his face and front left to do. Eddie shifts on the couch, changes so he’s facing Buck, and Buck’s brain starts short circuiting.

_Focus, Buckaroo_ , he thinks to himself, and swallows as he picks up more paint on the cotton ball he’s holding, dabbing and then dragging the cotton over Eddie’s shoulder and then down towards his chest. He focuses on his work for a few seconds before glancing back up at Eddie’s face. Eddie’s looking straight at him.

Buck’s hand falters.

He mentally shakes himself, picks up the tube of paint and concentrates on squeezing the right amount out.

Eddie gets ticklish around his sides, shivers a little as Buck directs the paint in swirls around his torso until he’s all covered. The muscles in Eddie’s stomach jump as he swipes the paint over them. Eddie bites his lip when Buck paints over his chest, hesitating a second before smoothing it over his nipples, then down, over his ribs. And both of them inhale deeply, almost in time together, as Buck tilts Eddie’s head to the side with one gentle hand in order to paint his neck.

Buck wants him so badly.

He thinks it’s mutual, he really does. He’s had the sense lately that Eddie is right there in it with him, just waiting for Buck to catch up, but there’s always a sliver of doubt in the back of his mind holding him back. Buck thinks he could take what he wants, that he could lean in and Eddie would meet him, but he just – he doesn’t know. And he can’t risk it.

But with one hand cradling Eddie’s face, their eyes meeting, Buck’s thumb sweeping gently over Eddie’s cheek and leaving a hint of green there, Buck _wants_. 

“Alright!” He jumps up from the couch, all nervous energy all of a sudden. “You probably want to do your face yourself in the mirror, right, I don’t want to get paint in your eye or anything. Here – here you go,” he hands Eddie the cotton ball. “Chris! Christopher! You done with dinner? Want to start getting your costume on now? Let’s go, little buddy, prime time treats wait for no Iron Man!”

***

Christopher, with painted cardboard rocket flames attached to his crutches, is the cutest Iron Man anyone’s ever seen. He gets fussed over at every door, and Eddie’s had to empty his candy container into the back-up bag he’d stuck in his pocket once already.

Christopher, ray of sunshine that he is, says thank you enthusiastically and tells everyone he meets about the rest of his Avengers team, pointing out Eddie and Buck to almost everyone before heading on to the next house. The Hulk and Captain America wave dutifully. For all his complaining, Eddie’s having a pretty good time. Chris is having a blast with both of them, and they’ve actually had a few kids come up who want pictures with them. Eddie can’t blame them – in his Captain America costume, Buck cuts a perfect Steve Rogers. An hour and a half in, though, and Eddie’s starting to wane a little, the long lead up to the night catching up with him.

“I’m fucking freezing,” Eddie mutters to Buck, trailing behind Christopher as he crutches his way up the sidewalk ahead of them.

“Suck it up, buttercup,” Buck says automatically, then winces a little. “Ah, yeah, the shirtless idea probably wasn’t the most weather appropriate. Sorry, Eds.”

“Anything to see me without my shirt on, huh, Buckley?”

Buck trips, catching himself at the last minute. “I, uh, that, uh, it was Chris’ idea?” He tries.

“Bullshit.” Eddie says, smiling, pulling Buck to stop as Christopher heads up to walk to the next house. There’s a little bit of a line at this one – elaborate decorations usually lead to the best candy hauls and all the kids know it - but they’re a little apart from the rest of the crowd, in a spot where the streetlights don’t quite reach, and Eddie….Eddie can’t stop himself anymore. He takes Buck’s hand, who looks at him wide-eyed.

“Bullshit,” Eddie says again, softly. “The Hulk was your idea, wasn’t it?”

Buck nods, stepping a little closer to Eddie as Eddie tugs him in.

“Thought you’d look good,” he admits lowly, and Eddie shifts again until they’re face-to-face. Buck, so tentatively, reaches out to put a light hand on Eddie’s waist.

“You look good too,” Eddie says, bringing a hand up to run a thumb along the bottom of Buck’s mask, then along his jawline. Eddie loves how the cowl frames his face, leaving his jaw and mouth exposed.

“Eddie,” Buck murmurs, tilting his head into Eddie’s hand.

“Buck,” Eddie says, quietly. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

They look at each other for a long moment, and Buck nods. Eddie blinks slowly, and tugs on the back of Buck’s neck, bringing him down just a centimeter or two so that Eddie can tilt his head up and kiss him. It’s gentle, light at first, but then Buck makes a small noise and tilts his head to deepen the kiss. His hand on Eddie’s waist slides around his back and tugs him in close. Both of them get a little lost in the kiss, hands gripping at each other as they stand close and let their surroundings fall away from them. 

“Ewwww,” the little pirate walking by them says, eyeing them as he passes by.

They both laugh, stepping away from each other a little bashfully, Eddie casting nervous glances around to see if anyone else feels like commenting, and Buck re-focusing on Chris. They catch each other’s eye, though, as Chris marches down the front walk, and both of them are smiling widely. 

Chris re-joins them, swinging his bag triumphantly.

“That was the best,” he says enthusiastically, then squints a little. “Buck, you look funny.”

“Well, Buck is a little funny,” Eddie says smoothly. “What do you say, another block and we head home?”

“But _Dad_.” 

It’s only later, right after they get home, that Buck realizes what Chris had meant…with the help of a friend.

Even though Eddie’s porch light isn’t lit up, the doorbell rings not three minutes after they get back. Eddie considers not answering for a second – he honestly wasn’t planning on handing out candy, knowing from experience that Chris usually conks out pretty quickly after walking all over the neighborhood - before heading to the door.

“Trick or Treat!” Denny, dressed up as a prince or king of some sort, announces. “Is Chris home?”

Eddie laughs and waves him in, calling out Chris’s name behind him. Hen and Karen grin at him from the stoop. Both of them are in witch costumes, but they don’t quite match. Karen’s wearing striped socks and a cute witch hat, where Hen has more of a classic witch look, with a long cape and broom.

“Well hel _lo_ there,” Karen grins at him. “Nice costume!”

“Yeah, yeah, it was Buck’s idea,” Eddie rolls his eyes and grins a little as he closes the door behind them. “You guys look great!”

Buck, beginning to sort through Christopher’s candy in the kitchen, waves.

“Of course it was his idea,” Hen laughs a little, then gets a better look at Buck. “Uh…”

Karen starts laughing, looking between the two of them.

“Did Captain America get into a fight with a slime monster?” Hen asks slyly.

Buck’s brow wrinkles.

“Huh?” Eddie asks, then squints at Buck. They’d been sort of shy and happy for the last half of trick or treating, avoiding each other a little, so he hadn’t gotten a good look at him lately. Now, though, in the bright light of Eddie’s kitchen…whoops.

Buck has green body paint smudged on the white parts of the chest of his costume, from where Eddie had pressed up against him. He’s got a thumb print on the cowl, and a halo of green smeared around his mouth and chin.

Hen’s dying of laughter as Eddie squirms and Buck looks clueless.

“You might want – you might want to look in the mirror,” Karen gets out between giggles, gesturing at her face.

Buck’s eyes get wide. “The paint,” he says, understanding. “Ohhh. Oh, shit.”

“You boys are too cute,” Hen says, wiping her eyes. “C’mon, babe, let’s leave the baby gays to their night.”

Eddie blushes fiercely, up to his ears. Karen takes pity.

“We just stopped by to say hello on our way out,” she explains, grinning at Eddie and Buck alternatively. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

“Yup,” Hen agrees, phone in hand. “Right after –“ she snaps a picture of Buck’s beleaguered face, cackling a little. She snaps another photo of Eddie, who scowls.

“None of that, Romeo,” she grins at him. “Christopher!” She calls. “C’mon here, honey, let’s get a picture of all three of you together.”

“Ah, Hen, let me go –“ Buck gestures in a wiping motion around his face.

“No no no no no!” Karen says merrily, chivying Eddie over to stand next to Buck, then high-fiving Chris hello as he comes back in the room with Denny. “You stand right between your dad and Buck, and we’ll get a good picture of you all, okay?”

“Avengers –“ Hen interrupts herself laughing, bending over a little as she gasps for air, holding her phone. “Avengers assemble!” She and Karen burst into renewed laughter.

She snaps the first picture as Buck and Eddie both scowl at her. They’re good sports, though, and they pose for a few more, Eddie even flexing for a few a la the Hulk. Buck, for his part, poses heroically, then they lift Christopher up for a last shot, trying to make it look like Chris is hovering as Iron Man, but in actuality just cuddling him between the two of them.

“Awwww,” Hen says, snapping away as Karen shakes her head, holding Denny close to her and grinning at them.

They leave soon after, with only a few more jokes between the two of them. Christopher collapses onto the couch with just a few pieces of candy doled out to him. Eddie jumps in the shower, and Buck’s eyes linger over Eddie’s green finger prints on his face before he washes his face and changes back into his street clothes. Before took long, Eddie gets Chris to brush his teeth and give Buck a sleepy hug goodnight before he gets him into bed.

Buck and Eddie settle at the kitchen island, sorting through Chris’s massive candy haul and occasionally stealing a piece or two. They’re quiet for a long time.

“Did you know that there were three main green pigments that Renaissance painters used?” Buck asks suddenly. “Verdigris, malachite, and Verona Green. They made verdigris by hanging copper objects over vinegar until they could scrape the green crust off the copper.”

Eddie blinks. “Uh. No, I can’t say I did know that.”

“Verona Green was nicknamed for the Italian city because the landscape around it was so green.”

“Huh.” Eddie comments, astutely, and shifts a little until his side is pressed up against Buck’s. Buck shivers a little, and presses back.

“Are you jealous of my smarts? My arcane knowledge? The depth of my random facts?” Buck babbles a little. Eddie’s pretty sure he’s checked the same piece of candy about four times now.

“I’m positively green with envy,” Eddie says, deadpan. Buck looks at him, then barks out a laugh.

“Bad dad joke,” he murmurs, but doesn’t look away from Eddie.

“You laughed,” Eddie points out, and glances deliberately, slowly, at Buck’s mouth.

It’s all too easy, this time, for them to lean in together and meet in the middle. They kiss, and Buck thinks it still feels like a revelation. Like it can’t be real that he’s allowed to do this now.

They kiss for a long time, slow and fast and then slow again, spending time just getting acquainted. Buck thrills at the way Eddie feels against him, how easy it is, like they were made to fit together. Eddie groans into the kiss and pushes Buck against the counter, neither of them noticing when a few pieces of candy fall to the tile floor.

And if some of that candy gets a little squished later, as Buck hops up to sit on the counter and Eddie pushes between his legs, surging up to kiss him harder, then, well. Chris had a good haul, Buck thinks. He can stand to lose a few pieces to a noble cause.


End file.
